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Royal Raymond Rife (May 16, 1888 – August 5, 1971) was an American inventor known for his belief that he could observe and render inert a number of viruses which he thought were causal factors in several diseases, most notably cancer. The observations were made though a specially designed optical microscope, only five of which were ever constructed. Rife claimed that a "beam ray" device could devitalize the pathogens by inducing destructive resonances in their constituent chemicals. Rife's claims could not be independently replicated, and active scientific interest in the devices had dissipated by the 1950s.
Interest in Rife's claims was revived in some alternative medical spheres by the book The Cancer Cure That Worked (1987), which claimed that Rife's work was successful. The book also claimed that his cure for cancer was suppressed by a conspiracy headed by the American Medical Association. After publication, a variety of devices bearing Rife's name were marketed as cures for diverse diseases such as cancer and AIDS.
The relationship between these "Rife Devices" and Rife's original equipment is tenuous. An analysis by Electronics Australia found that one such Rife device consisted of a nine-volt battery, wiring, a switch, a timer and two short lengths of copper tubing, which delivered an "almost undetectable" current unlikely to penetrate the skin. Several marketers of such devices have been convicted for health fraud, and in some cases the Rife devices have led to the deaths of cancer patients who used them instead of medical therapy. Rife devices are a subset of radionics devices, which have been classified as pseudomedicine.
Biography
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Rife was of Scottish ancestry, born on May 16, 1888, in Elkhorn, Nebraska. While still at university, he began working part time for Carl Zeiss, a leading manufacturer of camera lenses and microscopes, at their New York offices. Rife said that after a while he moved to Germany and worked part time for Carl Zeiss at their Heidelberg offices. It has been asserted he attended the University of Heidelberg but the university does not confirm that.
Rife married Mamie Quin in 1912 and she died in 1957. In 1960, Rife married Amelia Aragon. Rife died of a heart attack on August 5, 1971 at the age of 83 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego alongside his first wife.
Rife's microscopes
Little reliable information exists regarding Rife's microscopes. Rife did patent a high-intensity lamp for use in microscopes. On November 20, 1931, forty-four doctors attended a dinner advertised as "The End To All Diseases" at the Pasadena estate of Milbank Johnson. This dinner was honoring Arthur I. Kendall, professor at Northwestern Medical School and developer of the "Kendall Medium" or "K-Medium," and Royal Rife, the developer of the "Rife microscope." Moving microorganisms from prepared, diseased human tissue were supposedly seen in Berkefeld-000 filtered form, still-photographed and motion pictured.
August, 1932, Science published a report by Dr. Edward C. Rosenow, M.D. (1875–1966). It said that, in addition to other small particles viewable with the standard lab microscope, small turquoise bodies termed eberthella typhi were seen in the filtrate that were not visible in the lab microscopes, which Rosenow attributed to "the ingenious methods employed rather than excessively high magnification". The limitations of light microscopes are such that even the best resolution of a conventional microscope (at roughly 200 nanometers) is inadequate to visualize most viruses. However optical microscopes have, in recent times, broken this limit.
Cancer and disease treatment claims
Rife said that he could find a Mortal Oscillatory Rate (MOR) for various pathogenic organisms, and directed his research accordingly, culturing and testing various pathogens with his Universal #3 microscope and his directed radio frequency energy 'beam ray' tube machine. Rife claimed to have documented the precise frequencies which destroyed specific organisms, and claimed that many, if not all, contagious diseases could be cured using this radiation treatment. There is no independent verification of this claim.
Well-known debunker Peter Bowditch points out that no single virus, even Rife's hypothesized 'BX' virus which "caused all cancers", can account for all forms of cancer. According to the current medical understanding, viruses are only responsible for approximately 15% of all cancers.
The MOR frequencies established by Rife's early research should be treated with suspicion, since he evidently made transcription errors when taking them from his equipment. In any case, use of these frequencies in an original beam device would be illegal due to the radio frequency interference thus caused.
Modern revival, marketing, and health fraud
An interest in Rife was revived in the 1980s by author Barry Lynes, who wrote a book about Rife entitled The Cancer Cure That Worked. The book claimed that Rife's beam ray device could cure cancer, but that all mention of his discoveries was suppressed in the 1930s by a wide-ranging conspiracy headed by the American Medical Association. The American Cancer Society described Lynes' claims as implausible, noting that the book was written "in a style typical of conspiratorial theorists" and defied any independent verification.
Following this revival of interest, devices bearing Rife's name began to be produced and marketed. Such "Rife devices" have been at the center of a number of cases of health fraud in the U.S. In one such case, Life Energy Resources mass-produced the REM SuperPro Generator, marketed as a "Rife device" which could cure numerous diseases including cancer and AIDS. The marketers of this device were convicted of felony health fraud; the sentencing judge described them as "target the most vulnerable people, including those suffering from terminal disease" and providing false hope. Similarly, the American Cancer Society reported in 1994 that Rife machines were being sold in a "pyramid-like, multilevel marketing scheme"; a key component of the marketing approach was the claim that the device was being suppressed by an establishment conspiracy against cancer "cures".
The Attorneys General of Wisconsin and Minnesota sued a marketer of one such frequency generator for deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud. The Court found that she had violated the law and that, as a result of her actions, a cancer patient had ceased chemotherapy and died four months later.
In 2002 John Bryon Krueger, who operated the "Royal Rife Research Society," was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a murder and also received a concurrent 30-month sentence for illegally selling Rife devices.
In Australia, the use of Rife machines has been blamed for the deaths of cancer patients who could have been cured with conventional therapy. Although "Rife devices" are not registered by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and have been linked to deaths among cancer sufferers, the Seattle Times reported that over 300 people attended the 2006 Rife International Health Conference in Seattle, where dozens of unregistered devices were sold.
In 2009 a US Federal jury convicted James Folsom of 26 felony counts for sale of the Rife devices sold as “NatureTronics,” “AstroPulse,” “BioSolutions,” “Energy Wellness,” and “Global Wellness.” He used the false name “Jim Anderson” to avoid detection by the FDA and gave buyers the false impression that the FDA had approved them for investigation. He was placed in custody, with sentencing originally scheduled for May 2009. He was released on bail on 18 December 2009.
References
- ^ Jones, Newell (1938-05-06). "Cancer Blow Seen After 18-year Toil by Rife". San Diego Evening Tribune - Search for "5/6/38" near "Evening Tribune San Diego, Calif, Cancer Blown Seen". Retrieved 2007-08-22.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Questionable methods of cancer management: electronic devices" (PDF). CA Cancer J Clin. 44 (2): 115–27. 1994. doi:10.3322/canjclin.44.2.115. PMID 8124604.
- ^ Hills, Ben (2000-12-30). "Cheating Death". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Willmsen, Christine (2007-12-21). "Pair indicted on fraud charges in medical-device probe". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - "Scientific Genius Dies". The Daily Californian (obituary). August 11, 1971. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009.
- "Patent 1727618 - Microscope lamp". US Patent Office / Google Patent Search. 1927. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- Kendall, Arthur Isaac, MD., PhD. (December, 1931). "Observations on bacillus Typhosus in Its Filterable State". California and Western Medicine. XXXV (No.6). Retrieved 2009-02-16.
{{cite journal}}:|issue=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Rosenow, Edward C., M.D. (1932-08-26). "Observations with the Rife..." (Adobe/PDF). Science Magazine (Column 2 first page, last paragraph, fourth line, "herpes"). Retrieved 2007-09-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Masters, Barry R. Confocal Microscopy and Multiphoton Excitation Microscopy. SPIE Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-8194-6118-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - www.rife.org
- Bowditch, Peter (2003). "Limited only by the laws of physics". Australian Doctor. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - "A History of Rife's Instruments and Frequencies" (Adobe/PDF). Retrieved Feb 25, 2009.
- "Investigators' Reports". FDA Consumer. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. September 1996. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- "Investigators' Reports". FDA Consumer. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. September 1996. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- Stephen Barrett. "Rife Machine Operator Sued". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ Stephen Barrett. "Rife Device Marketers Convicted". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2000/UCM069067.pdf
- http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cas/press/cas90219-Folsom.pdf
- http://www.jimfolsom.net/jimfolsom/latest_news.htm Jim Folsom website
External links
- Rife Research - Europe by Peter Walker
- Electromagnetic Therapy from the American Cancer Society
- Rife devices from the National Council Against Health Fraud